Root, Shoot, Branches and Fruit of Leadership

UV 1304/10,000 Root, Shoot, Branches and Fruit of Leadership
He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
Isaiah 27 v 6

The Old Testament is the root, the New Testament is the shoot and our lives are the branches with blossom, bud and fruit. He has caused us to rise from the faith of Jacob or Israel and his covenant of faith with Jehovah. The Lord is the author, source and cause of our faith even as He is the creator of our lives. Perhaps, our seeking the light or truth with all our hearts helped in His choosing us. We have been grafted by our personal commitment and faith onto the shoot of Jesse, the father of David, King of Israel and onto his descendant, seed and root Jesus. Jesus is described in scripture as the Root and offspring of David. If the branches are not strong in faith, it will wither and be cast into fire to burn. If the branches are not yielding fruit too, it would be cut. If the branches are not growing well enough, it is pruned and trimmed to facilitate healthy growth. Our root should be strong, our shoot should be evergreen and then the branches will be full of blossom, bud and fruit. The root, shoot, branches and fruit analysis helps us always have a connected picture of God, Word and our life and its purpose.

We are a planting of the Lord to reveal the splendour of His power, glory and grace. The enemy of our soul would like to lay his axe on our root. We are marked people as we are responsible for the salvation of many. Therefore, as part of our covenant with God, we need to always have in mind some “root” verses and some “shoot” verses of protection that we erect as an enclosure or fencing around our lives. The enemy is described as a “ roaring lion waiting to devour His people”. The root promises of protection like Psalm 91 verses 14 and 16 and the shoot verses of blessing are Romans 8 verse 28 and John 14 verse 23. Even in the natural world, the shoot looks different from the root. The root looks dry, glamourless or sans beauty, shapeless, twisted and dull while the shoot looks green, erect and strong. The shoot verses Romans 8 verse 28 seems quite different from the root verse Psalm 91 verse 14 but they are intimately connected as root to shoot and the root holds the shoot up. With our believing, meditating and praying over and over again through the root and shoot verses, our lives get intimately connected to the shoot and thereby, to the root and we are primed to bear abundant supernatural, spiritual and natural fruit for the glory of God, our planter, gardener and keeper.

The blossoms are what makes us attractive to others just as colourful, scented flowers attract butterflies, bees and other insects to visit and both receive the nectar of our fellowship and carry forward the pollen of our fruitfulness. Our innumerable natural actions, thoughts and words are the leaves. The buds are our ideas and plans that the Lord enables us to carry to fruition if they are in accordance with His Word and will. The fruit are the words, qualities and actions that satisfy the spiritual hunger of people. The Lord desires that we expand our influence across the whole face of the planet to turn a desert of violence, meaninglessness and accompanying ugliness into a garden of great usefulness, meaning, beauty and fragrance.

Prateep V Philip